Story Synopsis:
Critically acclaimed (winning, among other awards, five Oscars
DVD Picture:
Viewed in a completely blackened room, the anamorphically enhanced 2.35:1 DVD exhibits a beautiful picture, with sharp and detailed images and excellent fine definition. The picture has both a dark and bright appearance, but this evaluation reveals that the imagery is merely mirroring the content of the movie itself: whether you want to see it as life in American suburbia or living an American nightmare. Colors are rich and vibrant, with balanced fleshtones and deep blacks. The symbolic
Soundtrack:
The Dolby
This Disc Contains The Following WSR-Rated Superb Qualities: Subscribe Now!
WSR DVD-ROM Review
DVD-ROM Enhancements Rating:
Superb
DVD-ROM Review:
This is the first title we have received with the new installation program from those people at Interactual. It is much the same as the old, just a little bit cleaner. I was hoping to see the new version, but was a little bit disappointed to see the same original PCFriendly. Okay, back to the features. After running PCFriendly, you are shown a great flash introduction, with clips from the film that scroll across your screen, while playing. When the introduction finishes, you are brought to the DVD-ROM main menu, which is a picture similar to that of the cover, with three options to choose from: Play Movie, Script and Screen, and Go Online. The Script and Screen section is very well presented. The large white font on black backgrounds everywhere makes it all easy to read. The storyboards I especially enjoy, with the fresh new way of scrolling between them all. Instead of having actual scroll bars to view the different ones, there is a Flash bar that allows you to scroll without clicking. The only problem I came across is the lack of scroll bars on the actual script section. The only way I could figure out reading the rest of the script shown was to click and drag down on the script window, which does not seem like a very efficient presentation. One of the only problems with getting titles before they are released to the public is not all of the Web links will be up and running. Such is the problem here. After clicking Go Online, you are sent to the American Beauty Web site, which was not up and running at the time I reviewed this title. When playing the movie from the PCFriendly software, you are brought directly to the Audio selection screen, and then straight onto the film. There really is not much to this title, but what is here is well done. I really enjoy the introduction: it is one of the best Flash pieces I have seen. The script section is beautifully developed and presented. However, the lack of other DVD-ROM features is what ultimately brought American Beauty down to a Superb. (Danny Richelieu)
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